Method and apparatus for automatically fixing the end of the thread or yarn of a wound package to the package support



July 10, 1962 Filed March 28, 1961 w. SIEGENTHALER 3,043,528 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FIXING THE END OF THE THREAD OR YARN OF AWOUND PACKAGE TO THE PACKAGE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVEN To R SIEGENTHALE. R

ATTORNE Y5 uly 10, 1962 W.'SIEGENTHALER 3,043,528

METHOD AND APPARATUS FDR AUTOMATICALLY FIXING THE END OF THE THREAD ORYARN OF A WOUND PACKAGE TO THE PACKAGE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch 28, 1961 Fig. 6

INVENTOR WALTER SIE'GEN mama AT-ro RNeys United States Patent Ofific e3,043,528 Patented July 10, 1962 3,043,528 METHOD AND APPARATUS FORAUTOMATI- CALLY FIXING THE END OF THE THREAD R YARN OF A WOUND PACKAGETO THE PACKAGE SUPPORT Walter Siegenthaler, Erlenbach, Zurich,Switzerland, as-

siguor to Maschineufabrik Schiirer, Erlenbach, Zurich, Switzerland FiledMar. 28, 1961, Ser. No. 98,969 Claims priority, application SwitzerlandMar. 31, 1960 Claims. (Cl. 242-18) The present invention concerns amethod and an apparatus for automatically fixing the end of the threador yarn of a wound bobbin or package to the package support at the endof the winding operation.

In order to-bring a' weft bobbin into a condition suitable for use in aweaving operation, it is a known practice to produce a small auxiliarywinding at the runningotf end of the package support in spacedrelationship with the main package; this auxiliary winding is thenslightly spread apart e.g. by means of a suitable finger during thefinal revolutions of the bobbin, so as to form a wedgeshaped groove,while the thread running up to the support is inserted immediatelybehind the finger into the wedgeshaped groove which subsequently isclosed again by the inherent elasticity of the auxiliary winding andthereby tightly clamps the end of the thread into the auxiliary winding.This fixing of the end ofthe thread into the auxiliary winding, however,is not very safe and the thread end becomes easily loose.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for fixingthe end of the thread or yarn of a wound bobbin or other package in asafe and reliable manner so as to avoid the above mentioneddisadvantage.

The method according to the invention comprises the steps of producingan auxiliary winding at the running-off end of the package support andaxially spaced from the body of the main package, said auxiliary windingbeing produced in a plane inclined at an angle to the axis of rotationof the support, axially displacing said auxiliary winding on the supportinto a plane extending at right angles to the said axis of rotation,lifting a portion of the displaced auxiliary winding from contact withthe support at a point revolving around the periphery of the support,and placing the thread running-up to the support underneath the liftedportion of the auxiliary windings, whereby said thread is covered by theauxiliary winding making contact again with the support immediatelybehind said revolving lifted portion of the winding.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus forcarrying out the above defined method. According to the invention thisapparatus comprises a rotatable package support, a drivercoupled to oneend of the support, a freely rotatable bearing head frictionallyengaging the other end of the package support, a centrifugal leverpivotally mounted on said bearing head for movement in an axial plane,said centrifugal lever having a lever arm abutting against the surfaceof the package support in proximity to the frictionally engaged endthereof when the bearing head rotates, said lever arm being providedwith an inclined surface adapted, upon rotation of said bearing head, tocoincide with the path of the running-up thread forming an auxiliarywinding on said support, and to engage underneath said auxiliarywinding.

The invention will now be described in detail, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of theapparatus as applied to a weft bobbin. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 digr-ammatically shows the package support mounted in its drivingdevice and coupled to the bearing head, during the production of theauxiliary winding,

FIG. 2 is an axial section through the bearing head, drawn to a largerscale, showing the production of the auxiliary winding at therunning-off end of the package support.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views similar to FIG. 2 showing a first and a secondphase of the relative rotation of the bearing head and the packagesupport occurring after a braking of the support.

FIG. 5 shows diagrammatic views of the one end, with the auxiliarywinding in various phases of fixing the end of the thread.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the end of the support showing the end of thethread fixed by the auxiliary winding.

In the drawing, numeral 1 represents the bobbin supporting core of aweft winding machine, which core is clamped for rotation with a driver2. The running-off end 1a of the core 1 is slightly rounded and mountedwith frictional engagement in a coupling socket 3 of a bearing head 4.The coupling socket 3 is enclosed by a diametrically slotted outer shell5 of the bearing head 4. An approximately -G-shaped centrifugal lever 7is supported on a pin 11 for pivotal movement in an axial plane in theslot 12 of the peripheral shell 5. The arm 7a of the lever 7 is formedas centrifugal weight for the lighter arm 7b. This arm 7b axiallyprojects out of the coupling socket 3 and terminates in a wedge-shapedtapering finger 8, the external surface of which forms an acute anglewith the axis of rotation of the core, when said finger abuts againstthe core end 1a. The bearing head 4 is mounted to be freely rotatableupon a pin 9.

The mode of operation of the described device is as follows: During thenormal winding of a package, the core 1 is rotated by the driver 2. Theend 1a of the core, mounted with frictional engagement in the couplingsocket, drives the bearing head 4 at the same speed. After the threadguide 10 (FIG. 1) has carried out the required number of strokes alongthe core 1 for producing the package A, it is moved out of the zone ofthe main package A and into the zone of the free core end 1a, so thatthe thread tangentially passes onto the end of the core at a pointsituated axially outward, i.e. towards the right of the end of thefinger 8, which end abuts against the core owing to centrifugal action.Upon each revolution of the core, the thread thus is wound over thefinger 8, from the inclined surface 13 of which it axially slips inwardstowards the core, so that an auxiliary Winding B is formed (FIG. 2),which is engaged from underneath by the concurrently rotating finger 8and situated in a plane extending at an incline to the axis of thespindle. After completion of a sufiicient number of turns for thisauxiliary winding B, the core 1 is braked at its driving end. Thebearing head 4 which by means of the coupling socket 3 only frictionallyengages the core end, utilizes its flywheel inertia and continues torotate for a sort time at undiminished velocity, whereby a relativerotation between the core 1 and the finger 8 results, as the finger 8rotates in advance of the core 1. The driving direction of the core 1 isindicated in FIGS. 1-3 by an arrow (1. Owing to the lead of the finger 8with respect to the core 1 the auxiliary winding B, engaged by saidfinger from underneath, is forced from its inclined position withrespect to the axis of the core into a radial plane (FIG. 3). This factsimul taneously results into a corresponding loosening of the auxiliarywinding on the core, whereby the finger 8, in travelling around the core11, lifts this loose winding slightly away from the core surface at thepoint of engagement of the finger. This is particularly evident in thediagrams a to d shown in FIG. 5, in which diagram a corresponds to theposition of the parts when the core 1 is driven according to FIG. 2,diagram b corresponds to the position of the parts when the core isbraked according to FIG. 3, and diagram 0 corresponds to the position ofthe parts after the spindle has been braked according to FIG. 4. Inthis'connection'it has to be noted that the thread running up to thecore 1 will maintain its original tension, so-that in the zone of theportion of the loose auxiliary winding B which is lifted off the coresurface, said oncoming thread automatically slides underneaththis liftedwinding portion and immediately afterwards is covered by the auxiliarywinding which, after the passage of the finger 8, will be applied againon the surface of the core 1. The portion of the thread, drawnunderneath the auxiliary winding B in the manner described, isindicatedin FIG. 5 by a heavy solid line. The tension of the thread running uponthe core, which during this winding operation is greater than thetension of the auxiliary winding on the core, additionally causes asubsequent tightening of at least the last coils of the auxiliarywindings which have been loosened by their axial displacement. Then thedrawing-in operation of the end of the thread is finished (FIG. 6), theauxilia'ry'winding thus is positioned again in tight condition on theend of the core and the thread, of which several turns have been drawnin underneath the auxiliary Winding B during the leading revolutions ofthe bearing head 4, is thereby tightly fixed to thecore end 10. Anyundesired loosening of the fixed thread thus is rendered impossibleowing to the tight seating of the auxiliary winding upon the end of thecore.

I cla m:

1. A method for automatically fixing the end of the thread or yarn of awound pack-age to the package support, which comprises the steps ofproducing an auxiliary winding at the running-off end of the packagesupport and axially spaced from the body of the main package, saidauxiliary winding being produced in a plane inclined at an angle to theaxis of rotation of the support, axially displacing said auxiliaryWinding on the support into a plane extending at right angles to thesaid axis of rotation'to loosen the winding, lifting a portion of thedisplaced auxiliary winding from contact with the support at a pointrevolving around the periphery of the support,

and placing the thread running-up to the support underneath the liftedportion of the auxiliary Winding, and permitting the thread to becovered by the auxiliary winding making contact again withthe support asit is released immediately behind the revolving lifting point.

2. Apparatus for automatically fixing the end of the thread or yarn of awound package to the package support, comprising a rotatable packagesupport, a driver coupled to one end of the support, a freely rotatablebearing head frictionally engaging the other end of the package support,a centrifugal lever pivotally mounted on said bearing head for movementin an axial plane, said centrifugal lever having a lever arm abuttingagainst the surface of the package support in proximity to thefrictionally engaged end thereof when the bearing head r0- tates, saidlever arm being provided with an inclined surface adapted, upon rotationof said bearing head, to coincide with the path of the running-up threadforming an auxiliary winding on said support, and to engage underneathsaid auxiliary winding.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, in which said bearhead is providedwith a coupling socket for frictionally engaging a rounded end of thepackage support. I

4. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said centrifugal lever isC-shaped and is mounted in said bearing head so as to be movable in anaxial plane, said lever having two arms of unequal weight, the heavierarm serving as a centrifugal weight, While the free end portion of thelighter arm forms the inclined surface adapted to engage the auxiliarywinding.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which said hearing head includes asleeve, the two arms of the centrifugal lever being situated indiametrically opposite slots of said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,141,604 Belz June 1,1915

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